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Kim Yeon-koung to celebrate career with Korean, international All-Star invitational

Published: 01 May. 2025, 14:57 Updated: 01 May. 2025, 20:32

PAIK JI-HWAN
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The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders toss Kim Yeon-koung into the air after winning the 2024-25 V League Championship at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 8. [YONHAP]

Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung will return to the court for the KYK Invitational 2025 All-Star game series on May 17 and 18 to commemorate her retirement with the Korean national team and fellow stars around the world.

Kim’s agency Lianat announced on Wednesday that the two-game series will pit the national squad against a star-studded foreign player team on May 17 and feature Kim and the foreign stars on May 18 at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon.

The two-game series comes after Kim's full retirement from the sport following the end of the 2024-25 V League season, during which she finished the final chapter of her storied 20-year career with the regular season and championship trophies with the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders.

The two titles allowed the volleyball star to cap off her V League career with five league titles — in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2023 and 2025 — and four championship trophies in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2025.

The 37-year-old showcased her talent not just in the V League but in multiple countries such as Turkey and China, bringing about the glory days of Korean volleyball by leading the country to the semifinals at both the 2012 and 2020 Olympics.

The upcoming series marks another invitational game from Kim, who participated in the KYK Invitational 2024, which commemorated the volleyball star’s retirement from the national team three years prior by showcasing games between the V League All-Star squad against Team World, consisting of foreign players.

The KYK Invitational 2025 All-Star game series poster [NEXT CREATIVE]

This year’s foreign all-star team will feature those that competed in last year’s contest such as Natalia Pereira of Brazil, Pleumjit Thinkaow from Thailand and Maret Grothues from the Netherlands, alongside those who have shone elsewhere in the world, including Eda Erdem and Meliha Ismailoglu, who won the Turkish league in 2017 with Kim at Fenerbahce, and Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Jordan Larson and Kelsey Robinson of the United States.

The entire All-Star team lineup has yet to be released as of Thursday.

Over at the national team, Kim Da-in and Jeong Ji-yun of Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, Kim Da-eun, Kim Se-bin and Kang So-hwi of Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass, Park Sa-rang and Han Da-hye of Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers, Lee Sun-woo and Jung Ho-young of the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, Moon Ji-yoon, Lee Da-hyun and Jung Yoon-joo of the Pink Spiders, Lee Ju-ah and Yook Seo-young of the Hwaseong IBK Altos and Han Su-jin and Lee Ju-a of GS Caltex Seoul Kixx will be competing.

Players from both teams will first introduce themselves to fans on May 16 through a media day event at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium.

The exhibition game series is not a formal retirement event for Kim, however, as the Pink Spiders are reportedly planning to hold the ceremony for their legend at the start of the 2025-26 V League season in October.

As for the national team, the upcoming series also serves as a tune-up to their 2025 Volleyball Nations League starting in June.

Fans can catch all the live action of the series on tvN, tvN Sports or the streaming platform Tving.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]